Mainstreet
Uptown Butte, Inc., is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit program incorporated
in June 1999 and affiliated with The National Main Street Center. and the Montana State
Main Street program. In 2000, the Butte Uptown Association, representing
Uptown merchants since 1970, merged with Mainstreet Uptown Butte.

In 1977, in response to the flight of businesses from historic
town centers, the National Trust for Historic Preservation created pilot Main
Street programs to use historic preservation as an economic development
tool. Since then, the approach has proven successful in small
towns and urban neighborhoods from Washington State to New York
City. The program has a track record in more than 1,200 communities
across the country.

The key to the success of the Main Street program is that community
revitalization does not rely on any one action, be it an anchor
store, a new streetscape, or that one special event that will
draw thousands of visitors. The program uses a sustained
approach guided by four major points to guide preservation and
economic rejuvenation efforts.

The Main Street
approach to downtown (or Uptown as the case may be) revitalization
is based on four major points: Design, Promotion, Organization,
and Economic Restructuring.

ORGANIZATION is the work of building a consensus and
cooperation among the stakeholders in the district. Many individuals
and organizations in the community have a stake in the district's
economic viability:

Bankers

Local
Industries

Property Owners

Civic
Groups

County Officials

Historians
and Preservationists

Merchants

Schools

Butte Residents

Shoppers

Professionals

Real
Estate Agents

Chamber of
Commerce

Local
Media

ECONOMIC
VITALITY strengthens the existing economic base while
diversifying it. Our economic restructuring goals are to help
existing Uptown businesses expand, recruit new businesses to
augment the existing business base, convert unused space into
productive properties, and enhance the competitiveness of Uptown
merchants.

By strengthening the Uptown's economy, communities are able to
support ongoing use of historic commercial buildings, preserving
unique community assets.

The comprehensive nature of Main Street's approach is the key
to its success. By integrating the four areas into a practical
management strategy, the Main Street approach produces fundamental
changes in the economic base, putting historic commercial buildings
to productive use again.

Mainstreet
Uptown Butte's Board of Directors provides oversight and guidance for Butte's Main Street program. The board of directors
includes community volunteers with expertise in economic development, design,
promotions and fund-raising. Other directors are small
business owners and understand the challenges facing independent
businesses.

The Executive
Director of Mainstreet Uptown Butte works with businesses and
community residents to promote Uptown Butte as an attractive,
enjoyable and safe place to do business, implement small improvement
projects, coordinate special events and administer the routine
operations of the organization.

Mainstreet Uptown Butte's Executive Director is George Everett.
In 2002, Everett successfully nominated Butte to the National
Trust for Historic Preservation to be listed as one of America's Dozen
Distinctive Destinations to encourage travelers with an interest
in cultural tourism to plan a visit. In August 2007, he wrote a book about Butte trivia titled quite
rightly Butte
Trivia.

Also in 2007, Everett coordinated the successful effort to have Butte
host the National
Folk Festival in
2008-2010. As a result, in 2010, Butte was recognized by the Montana Toursim Advisory Council as the Montana Tourism Community of the Year and the National Folk Festival was recognized as the Tourism Event of the Year for 2009. Everett continues to lead Mainstreet to develop this cultural and economic asset for Butte through the planning and implementation of the successor event, the Montana Folk Festival since 2011. Plans are now underway for the eighth Montana Folk Festival forJuly 13-15, 2018.

Everett is responsible for implementing Butte's Main Street program
to take advantage of historic buildings and other resources to
stimulate the local economy by creative reuse of the built environment. Butte has great potential to benefit from the program's resources
and experience around the country. Butte has more than 4,000
historic buildings in its historic zone, possibly more structures
than any other national historic landmark district in the country.

In his tenure as Executive Director, Everett has helped
facilitate the lighting of eight headframes, the planting of
nearly 1,200 new street trees, and the painting of more than 35
historical facades in Uptown Butte through Mainstreet's High
Impact Paint Program.